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How to manage who can message you • How to delete or mute messages • How to manage message requests • How to manage read status • Safety features for direct messaging
How to manage who can message you
The following people can message you:
• Friends (followers you follow back)
• Accounts you follow
Keep in mind that if you have a private account, accounts you follow can't message you until they follow you. If you don't wish to receive messages from these accounts, you can choose to block them. For anyone else, they'll need to send you a message request first. You can choose to accept, delete, or report these messages.
The following people can send you a message request:
• People you may know (phone contacts, Facebook friends, etc.)
• Potential connections (followers)
• Others on TikTok
To manage who can send you message requests:
1. In the TikTok app, tap Profile at the bottom.
2. Tap the Menu ☰ button at the top, then select Settings and privacy.
3. Tap Privacy.
4. Tap Direct messages, then choose from the list of options who can send you a message request:
༚ Potential connections: Select Requests to receive messages from your followers as message requests. Or select Don't receive to not allow any messages from your potential connections.
༚ Others on TikTok: Select Requests to receive messages from others on TikTok as message requests. Or select Don't receive to not allow any messages from others on TikTok.
Keep in mind that if you have a private account, your potential connections and others on TikTok can't send you message requests unless they follow you.
If you're under 18: Please review our teen privacy and safety settings for more details on how to manage your direct messages.
How to delete or mute messages
To delete a chat:
1. In the TikTok app, tap Inbox at the bottom.
2. From here:
༚ For iOS devices, swipe a chat and tap Delete, then tap Confirm.
༚ For Android devices, press and hold a chat, then tap Delete.
To delete a single direct message:
1. Go to the chat in your inbox.
2. Press and hold the direct message, then tap Delete. From here:
༚ To delete the message only for you, tap Delete for me. The receiver(s) will still see the message.
༚ To delete the message for both you and the receiver(s), tap Delete for everyone within 3 minutes of sending the message.
To mute a chat:
1. In the TikTok app, tap Inbox at the bottom.
2. From here:
༚ For iOS devices, swipe a chat and tap More.
༚ For Android devices, press and hold a chat.
3. Tap Mute to stop getting notifications for the chat.
You can also mute notifications directly from a chat by tapping the More options … button at the top of the chat, then turning the Mute notifications setting on.
How to manage message requests
To accept or delete a message request:
1. In the TikTok app, tap Inbox at the bottom.
2. Tap Message requests, then select a chat request. Some chats may appear in your filtered requests.
3. Tap Accept to receive the message or Delete to remove the request from your inbox. You can also tap Report to report the message. If you accept the request, the person is notified in the chat.
Keep in mind that accounts you've blocked can't send you message requests.
How to manage read status
Read status lets you know if someone has read your direct message and vice versa.
To turn read status on or off:
1. In the TikTok app, tap Profile at the bottom.
2. Tap the Menu ☰ button at the top, then select Settings and privacy.
3. Tap Privacy.
4. Tap Direct messages, then turn the Read status setting on or off. For people aged 18 years and older, this setting is on by default.
Keep in mind that the other person will know when you read their message only when both of you have the read status turned on.
Safety features for direct messaging
We provide several safety features for direct messaging to help ensure messages follow our Community Guidelines and let you take action against unwanted messages or people, including:
• Adding keywords to hide direct messages
• Managing message requests
• Reporting a message or an account
• Blocking someone from messaging you
Filter and hide direct messages
You can use safe mode to hide messages containing sensitive content or filter messages from potentially unsafe sources. You can also add keywords to hide messages that contain those words.
To access safe mode:
1. In the TikTok app, tap Profile at the bottom.
2. Tap the Menu ☰ button at the top, then select Settings and privacy.
3. Tap Privacy.
4. Tap Direct messages.
5. Turn the Safe mode setting on or off.
Important things to know about safe mode:
• This setting is turned on by default.
• Depending on your location and when this setting is on, we may hide messages that contain sensitive content. You'll have the option to view the hidden message if you wish.
To add keywords:
1. In the TikTok app, tap Profile at the bottom.
2. Tap the Menu ☰ button at the top, then select Settings and privacy.
3. Tap Privacy.
4. Tap Direct messages.
5. Tap Filtered keywords.
6. Turn the Filtered keywords setting on. Enter a word or phrase that you'd like to hide from your chats, then tap Add.
Keep in mind that certain keywords can't be filtered.
Manage filtered requests
To view filtered messages:
1. In the TikTok app, tap Inbox at the bottom.
2. Tap Message requests.
3. Tap the Filtered requests button at the top, then select a message request. From here, you can:
༚ Tap Accept to move the chat from filtered requests into your inbox.
༚ Tap Delete to decline the message request.
༚ Tap Report to report the message.
༚ Tap Tap here, then choose to Report the message or Block the sender.
Keep in mind that the safe mode setting needs to be turned on to filter sensitive messages.
Report a direct message
If you receive a message that you think doesn't follow our Community Guidelines, we encourage you to report it to us.
To report a direct message:
1. In the TikTok app, tap Inbox at the bottom.
2. From here:
༚ For iOS devices, swipe a chat, then tap Report and follow the steps.
༚ For Android devices, press and hold on a chat, then tap Report and follow the steps.
3. Go to the chat for more report options:
༚ Tap the Report button at the top and follow the instructions.
༚ Tap the More options … button at the top, then tap Report and follow the instructions.
༚ Press and hold on a direct message, then tap Report and follow the instructions. You may need to scroll across to find it.
4. Follow the steps on the next screen to submit your report.
Block someone from messaging you
You can block someone so they can't send you direct messages or view your videos on TikTok.
To block someone in your inbox:
1. In the TikTok app, tap Inbox at the bottom.
2. From here:
༚ For iOS devices, swipe a chat and tap More, then tap Block.
༚ For Android devices, press and hold on a chat, then tap Block.
3. Tap Block again to confirm.
You can also go to the chat, then tap the More options … button at the top to turn the Block setting on. The chat will be labeled as blocked.